Description
Operational Finance Manager - Local Council/Local Authority/Local Government experience is essential
Job Purpose:
- To lead and manage one of four Finance Teams within Operational Finance
- To ensure that each Groups' Senior Management are supported to deliver their accountabilities for budget management and that each Group complies with Financial Standing Orders
- To provide financial leadership to Groups to enable them to develop their strategic financial plans
- To ensure the provision of high quality financial advice and accurate and timely financial information to Corporate Directors, Heads of Service and budget managers
- To ensure that the statutory accounting requirements with respect to each Group are met and that legislative changes that may have financial impact on Groups are covered.
Service Responsibilities:
- To direct and effectively manage the Finance team, to provide an optimum level of service provision in accordance with the Council's policies, budget allocation and statutory requirements and with overall responsibility for target setting, performance management, business planning and budget management for the Finance team.
- To establish effective external working relationships with key stakeholders
- To ensure that the Senior Management Team of the Group are kept abreast of the financial position of the Group and take the necessary action to stay within budget.
- To provide strong financial support to the Group to enable the development and implementation of budget plans across the Group
- To ensure that all improvement projects within the Group are fully supported from a finance perspective.
- To work in a way that supports a flexible, integrated, One Council' approach to service delivery.
- To develop and promote positive people management within the Finance team that ensures appropriate performance management, quality standards, monitoring and review are used to optimise employee motivation and satisfaction.
- To ensure the provision of timely financial information in support of Departmental and Corporate performance monitoring requirements.
- Attendance at evening Committee meetings as required
Essential experience
- Significant experience of preparation of annual budgets and final accounts for a Local Authority.
- Significant experience in a senior management role with direct management experience of leading professional and managerial groups. Supervision exercised -up to 5 directly, up to 20 indirectly
- Evidence of successful participation at senior management level in developing and delivering strategies, policies and programmes within relevant statutory and policy requirements.
- Evidence of formulating, leading and implementing successful strategies and programmes which cross service or processional boundaries.
- Evidence of leading and managing change in a large multi-disciplined organisation to achieve service improvement.
- Evidence of successful management and development of staff in a large multi-disciplined organisation, including establishing effective performance objectives and appraisal to achieve corporate and service objectives.
- Strategic budget management in a comparable public sector organisation, managing significant financial resources and evaluating competing budget priorities within tight financial limits.
- A successful track record of building and developing partnerships and working effectively in co-operation with a wide range of internal and external bodies including both statutory and non statutory organisations and community groups.
- Effective working within a political environment, providing clear, balanced advice and guidance on issues that achieve the corporate and service objectives of the organisation.
- Evidence of a clear understanding of the legal, financial and political context of management within a Local Authority.
- Financial knowledge of one or more specific service area finance within a Local Authority. eg Social Care, Education, Housing.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Fully qualified Accountant - CIPFA, ACCA, CIMA
- Educated to degree level or equivalent
- A minimum of 3 years post qualification experience
- Evidence of post qualification continuing professional development
Operational Finance Manager - Local Council/Local Authority/Local Government experience is essential